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Monthly Archives: November 2013

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A book I loved reading this summer and have not shut up about to anyone who will or won’t listen is “Listening To Whales: What The Orcas Have Taught Us” by Alexandra Morton. The book is about Alexandra’s life from when she decided she wanted to work with marine mammals, through to her work on killer whales and their habitat. It is both a fascinating insight into the killer whales in Northern British Columbia and the early days of research on this population. As well as the fascinating and beautiful personal and scientific journey Alexandra went on from a whaleless New England town across the country and then north to the ruggedly beautiful and, unforgiving Pacific Northwest region.

A lot of people have been saying you must go, you have to go, it’s of great benefit if you attend.

Graduation Take Two! What got me into this crazy and wonderful mess!

What am I talking about? Why only the biggest marine mammal conference in the world! The 2013 Society for Marine Mammalogy Conference. It just happens to be occurring in three weeks time in the Southern Hemisphere where I currently happen to be (lucky me)! I have however already changed various versions of my plans several times over in the last few months and really needed to consider whether it was going to be a mistake not to go! I mean obviously I wanted to go! It would be a dream come true, to be surrounded by some of the best minds in the marine mammal world.

It was possible for me to go but, it would not be an easy or inexpensive endeavour, shall we say. Though what I could get out of it could be life changing (some may say)! However, not being currently being a student means that registration fees would be significant, plus the late registrations fees on top of that. Then comes accommodation, new flights, the changing of old flights, food (and gin), social events and if there are any good ones left $100 a pop workshops on the first weekend! Further to this given visa restrictions I have to get the hell out of Australia five days before the conference even starts so more time (and accommodation) in beautiful New Zealand!

It is a wondrous thing to be a marine biologist. I get to work on the ocean (in all conditions, mind you), studying some amazing species. I count myself as one of the lucky ones.

I have started this blog in an attempt to keep track of what is going on in the world of marine sciences, share my experiences as a marine biologist, ramble about my opinion on marine science and conservation and hopefully share some beautiful photography along the way.

I hope that I can provide some insightful information on life as an early career marine biologist and furthermore into what is currently happening in the world of marine biology and conservation.